Saturday, February 18, 2012

No Holds Barred: Bubba Jenkins

Bubba was also a junior world champion in freestyle wrestling in 2007, wrestling at 66 kg/145.5 pounds.

Right after he won his NCAA title in March 2011, wrestling for Arizona State at 157 pounds, Bubba Jenkins announced that he was planning on becoming a professional mixed martial arts fighter. He made good on that promise, moving to Florida and training at the legendary American Top Team facility in Coconut Creek. He then won his first pro MMA fight, on December 2, 2011, with a first-round stoppage by strikes of Josh Williams at Tachi Palace Fights 11 in Lemoore, California. His next fight is scheduled for March 9 at Tachi Palace Fights 12, against Chris Gomez, who has a record of 2-3.

We spoke with Bubba Jenkins at length by phone Thursday night about how his transition from wrestling to mixed martial arts is progressing. He explained that while he was a bit nervous when his first fight started, and actually was briefly in trouble from a submission attempt, he quickly gained control and secured that first-round victory.

We discussed his adapting to MMA where both submissions and striking are part of the sport, and how his training at American Top Team has been critical in his development as a fighter. He knows that he has great potential in mixed martial arts, but also that, after only one fight, he must advance one step at a time.

While he still is teaching at wrestling camps, he said that his days as a competitive wrestler are over, even in this Olympic year. We also discussed his experience in winning his NCAA title.

Bubba Jenkins has all the tools to become a star one day in mixed martial arts, so make sure to pay close attention to what he had to say, and to his fighting career in its early stages.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

DARE Championship. Based in Thailand, DARE is a mixed martial arts event where fighters from all over the world compete to become the DARE Champion. DARE is one of the first MMA promotions in Thailand, and has been televised in many countries and online. For more information, go to their web site, at DareFightSports.com.

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American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site athttp://americantopteam.com/.

The American Sambo Association, which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

No Holds Barred: Mike Chapman on Earl Caddock, When Pro Wrestling Was Real

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with wrestling and sports historian and author Mike Chapman.

Mike has just published a new book, "Earl Caddock: Walnut's Wrestling Wonder". Earl Caddock was a three-time AAU national champion in amateur wrestling and the world heavyweight professional wrestling champion from 1917 to 1920 when this title was contested in real matches. This is a must-read book for all those interested in wrestling, combat sports, and history.

Highlights of the match in which Caddock lost his title to Joe Stecher, on January 30, 1920 at Madison Square Garden in New York, can be seen in a video of a scratchy film from that day, on YouTube.

We spoke with Mike Chapman by phone Thursday afternoon about Earl Caddock, his place in wrestling history, this important new book, and what was going on in pro wrestling at the time he competed. We discussed the long heritage of wrestling, the Caddock-Stecher match of 1920, the importance of real wrestlers like Frank Gotch, and how the era of real matches faded quickly after Caddock lost his title. And we examined the current revival of catch-as-catch-can wrestling and what it would take to bring back a form of real pro wrestling.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

DARE Championship. Based in Thailand, DARE is a mixed martial arts event where fighters from all over the world compete to become the DARE Champion. DARE is one of the first MMA promotions in Thailand, and has been televised in many countries and online. For more information, go to their web site, at DareFightSports.com.

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site athttp://americantopteam.com/.

The American Sambo Association, which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com.

Monday, February 13, 2012

No Holds Barred: ONE FC 2 Review, Williams-Ishida Preview, Don King on Tournaments

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman draws some of the common lessons from mixed martial arts and boxing by reviewing the ONE FC 2 card and previewing the February 18 Paul Williams- Nobuhiro Ishida fight, as well learning from the teachings of the one and only Don King.

ONE FC had its second outing on Saturday, February 11, with a ten-fight card at the BritAma Arena, also known as Kelapa Gading Sports Mall, in North Jakarta, Indonesia. We discuss the fights on this entertaining show, including the main event and best fight on the card, a nonstop battle where Felipe Enomoto submitted Ole Laursen with a rear naked choke in the second round. We also examine which fighters gained the most from their wins, including Bae Young Kwon, who submitted previously-unbeaten Honorio Banario, also with a rear naked choke, in the first round of their fight. And we discuss some of the other lessons of this show, the good and bad on it, and how this show also advanced the international recognition of ONE FC and many of its fighters.

On Saturday, February 18, a major boxing card will be held in Corpus Christi, Texas, when former world champion Paul Williams (40-2, 27 KOs) takes on Nobuhiro Ishida (24-6-2, 9 KOs) of Osaka, Japan, and IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (24-0, 19 KOs) fights former world champion Gabriel Campillo (21-3-1, 8 KOs) of Madrid, Spain. This card will be telecast live in the U.S. on Showtime.

On a media conference call, we spoke with both Paul Williams and Nobuhiro Ishida about this fight and the direction of their careers. We also have comments from Don King calling for a light heavyweight tournament and the value of tournaments for boxing, an observation which is valid for all the combat sports.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

DARE Championship. Based in Thailand, DARE is a mixed martial arts event where fighters from all over the world compete to become the DARE Champion. DARE is one of the first MMA promotions in Thailand, and has been televised in many countries and online. For more information, go to their web site, at DareFightSports.com.

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site athttp://americantopteam.com/.

The American Sambo Association, which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

No Holds Barred: Leslie Koroma on Combat Sports in Africa

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Leslie Koroma, the chairman and CEO of the African Sports Media Network, and the founder of the digital and print magazine African Sports Monthly.

While African Sports Monthly started as an online magazine in 2010, the first print edition is due out in late February 2012. The African Sports Media Network is also in the process of developing African sports television and radio networks.

We spoke with Leslie Koroma, who is currently based in Houston, Texas, by phone Thursday afternoon, about the history-making general growth of sports in Africa. We began, however, by noting the tragic deaths of over 70 people at the recent football riots in Egypt, what that signified, and why that was the biggest sports story in the world in the past week.

Africa is the birthplace of the combat sports, and we focused on recent developments in the combat sports there. Leslie Koroma explained that while there are several mixed martial arts organizations in Africa as well as a number of prominent boxers and boxing events, the biggest form of combat sports in Sub-Saharan Africa is Senegalese wrestling.

Based on the traditional style of wrestling in Senegal, Senegalese wrestling has developed into a major professional sport which is widely televised in the region, and has produced colorful stars with nicknames like Tyson and Yekini, with many of their matches available on YouTube.

We also discussed the need for Senegalese wrestling to have a more formal structure than it has now, the rise of new MMA groups in South Africa and Egypt, the enormous talent in Africa that deserves worldwide exposure, the improving economic climate in Africa, the possibility of Africa overtaking Asia in growth sometime later this century, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

DARE Championship. Based in Thailand, DARE is a mixed martial arts event where fighters from all over the world compete to become the DARE Champion. DARE is one of the first MMA promotions in Thailand, and has been televised in many countries and online. For more information, go to their web site, at DareFightSports.com.

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site athttp://americantopteam.com/.

The American Sambo Association, which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com.